Chicago White Sox: Split-squad day ends in two losses
The Chicago White Sox had a doubly bad day in split-squad action against the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers.
After a pair of satisfying wins on Tuesday and Wednesday, the White Sox gave up 17 runs today and only scored four.
Game one was against the Kansas City Royals who are in second place in the Cactus League.
Who played against the Royals?
Despite the Royals using a lineup that had very few recognizable names, they completely demolished the Sox. To make matters worse, the Sox brought most of their A-squad including Avisail Garcia, Jose Abreu, and Leury Garcia.
The Sox did get on base with two hits against the Danny Duffy, the Royals ace, in his three innings. Sadly, Duffy got four strikeouts on three batters; he got Avisail Garcia twice. Overall, the Sox were nothing more than quiet with five hits and one walk.
The one bright spot against the Royals
The one bright spot in this game was Chris Volstad, again. After a few rough seasons in the past few years, Volstad has been one of the most reliable relief pitchers this exhibition season. In five games and 7.2 innings, he has yet to give up a run and has only allowed one batter to reach first base. He has held batters to an average of .043 and he has a WHIP of 0.13.
Top prospect Michael Kopech got the start today and the Royals lit him up. In 2.1 innings, he gave up four runs and walked three batters. That trip from the minors to the majors can be overwhelming, even for a kid who can throw 100 MPH. Unfortunately, Kopech’s replacement, Tyler Danish didn’t do any better. He gave up four more runs, so by the third inning, the Royals had nine runs in the book.
Who played against the Rangers?
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The second squad had a better day against the Texas Rangers, scoring four runs to the Rangers five. The first four innings were pitching duels, as James Shields faced Cole Hamels. Both pitchers gave up some hits and one run. They each walked one batter and struck out a few, too. Hamels won the duel by a home run and a strikeout. Shields K’d three batters, Hamels knocked out four. Juan Centeno, the Rangers ninth batter, hit one out of the park off of Shields in the third.
Three doubles and two triples
Even though the Sox lost this game, two batters had extraordinary days at the plate. Yolmer Sanchez had two triples and Ryan Cordell had three doubles. Cordell went three for three and had four RBIs on the day.
The score of this game was back and forth until Texas scored their final run in the bottom of the ninth and took the lead for the last time.
Next: Who's your White Sox player in 2018?
The White Sox face the San Diego Padres Friday at Peoria Stadium at 2:10 CT. The pitchers have not yet been announced.